Arizona’s 2011 game at Oklahoma State likely to move to Thursday night on ESPN

by Anthony Gimino on Apr 05, 2011, under Arizona football

UPDATE: An Arizona official clarified Wednesday that the date change is not a ”done deal” at this time. While the move is expected to happen, there still need to be some “sign-offs” from the schools and ESPN.

The Arizona Wildcats’ game this season at Oklahoma State — a likely preseason top 10 team — has been moved to a Thursday night on ESPN.

The game, originally set for Sept. 10 in Stillwater, will be played Sept. 8, a UA official confirmed Tuesday.

Arizona opens the 2011 season at home on Sept. 3 against Northern Arizona. By moving up the game against the Cowboys, the Wildcats will have a couple of extra days to get ready for their Pac-12 opener against visiting Stanford on Sept. 17.

The Arizona-Oklahoma State game will be a rematch of the 2010 Alamo Bowl, won by the Cowboys 36-10.

Oklahoma State returns a dynamic passing game, led by quarterback Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon, who won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver. OSU was third in the nation in scoring last season with 44.23 points per game.

This will be the first of two Thursday night games for the Cats. They will play host to UCLA on Oct. 20 on ESPN. Arizona’s home game against Oregon on Sept. 24 is also slated for ESPN or ESPN2.